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When he ended up between the Italian Luca Trapanese (43) and his girlfriend, he believed that the dream of having children was over. In Italy, there are strict rules for adoption, and those who wish to adopt a child as a single parent generally do not.
“I felt outside and had a strong desire to be a father,” he tells Dagbladet.
But then, in the early summer of 2017, he became Alba’s adoptive father. The girl with Down syndrome was only 29 days old when she first came to him after her parents were unable to care for her.
– Disability didn’t scare me. People may be afraid of what is not normal. But I think we all have our deviations, he says.
Hit the prejudice
Last year, Alba and Luca’s story went viral when various media mentioned the little family. Several praised the adoptive father for challenging the idea of a stereotypical family. In addition to Luca adopting only one girl with Down syndrome, he is gay and Catholic.
Luca now has more than 340,000 followers on Instagram, sharing photos of everyday life with the father and daughter duo to end prejudice.
In a podcast for the BBC, Trapanese says he was told that he could only have a child if he was sick, disabled or had behavioral problems.
– Rejected by 20 families
The 43-year-old man has even started a charity in Naples to help people with disabilities. To help people, Luca is close to the heart. As a child, his best friend Diego became seriously ill and died. It has shaped him as a human being.
– It is both the saddest and most beautiful I have ever experienced. Diego was the son of a disabled person and he joined me as a volunteer in the organization. Being in contact with pain and suffering changes you. It makes you stronger, he says to Dagbladet.
Since she was 14, she has worked with children with special needs.
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A year passed from Trapanese’s adoptive father to Alba until he was officially allowed to adopt the girl. She claims that a total of 20 families rejected her when they learned she had Down syndrome.
– It’s a real shame, but you shouldn’t be judged. It is a consequence of a society that imbues everyone with a focus on being perfect on the outside, he says.
The 43-year-old man believes that many people find it terrifying because they do not know how to care for a child with that diagnosis.
– Still, I am grateful that it happened, because it ended with Alba coming to me, he says.
He says it’s exhausting, but at the same time beautiful, being a single parent.
– Alba has completed my life and I love being her father.
Still, he hopes the family will one day become a member.
– I hope to meet a man who can be my partner and Alba’s other father, he says.
Do you want to argue?
